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Tori et Lokita

Well, OK, this movie is well made and I love the actors, but… It’s only been fifteen minutes, and we’ve already had so much misery heaped upon this poor woman that it’s… It’s not that I don’t believe that it’s possible, but it’s too much.

Yeah of course — in addition to everything else, she’s probably dying from some disease?

I’m sorry, this is veering close to kitch.

OK OK.

Yeah, a mattress without a sheet. Trés economique à long terme.

Lokita is such a gormless character — she deals drugs but apparently gets paid less than 1% of the take? And is also paying off the people who smuggled her in (in the most humiliating way — by carrying around absolutely all her money on her person), and etc etc. I thought it was a kinda racist movie, but then her kid brother is super duper competent and does almost super human feats, so I guess it’s just misogynist?

I just didn’t find the characters believable.

So instead of being heart-rending (which is what the directors where obviously going for), I was just rolling my eyes at each horrific thing.

Don’t listen to me:

It’s got an 87% tomatometer.

But I’m pissed off with this movie, because they really went all in on making a tear jerker about the horrible conditions immigrants face, and how terribly they’re exploited — and the filmmakers failed completely, in my opinion. I totally applaud what they apparently were trying to make, but instead they made this piece of kitch.

Still, I loved the performances (especially the kid (who they had say the most hair-raisingly incongruous things)) and it looks good, so let’s go with:

Tori and Lokita. Jean-Pierre Dardenne, Luc Dardenne. 2022.

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